


does someone as pretty as you happen to have a boyfriend?

by wickedwheeler



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Cute, F/M, Fluff, mileven is beautiful, we deserved to see mike’s reaction to el’s starcourt makeover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-07
Updated: 2019-08-07
Packaged: 2020-08-11 11:02:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20152546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wickedwheeler/pseuds/wickedwheeler
Summary: mike spots el while shopping at starcourt, which results in him being the one who does the spying





	does someone as pretty as you happen to have a boyfriend?

**Author's Note:**

> while i do love season 3 and the scenes we were given, i would have also loved if certain scenes had gone the way they played out in my head... me and my high expectations ugh

Mike had his mind set on finding El the perfect gift to earn her forgiveness. He had lied to her and he was almost certain that she knew he had. So, whatever that gift would be, it had to be something big, something that could show her just how sorry he was for breaking one of the most important rules. 

His plans to find that gift were immediately deterred though, when the very girl he was shopping for came into view amongst the crowd, not too far in front of him.

"Oh my God, El's here!" Mike rushed to inform his friends, as he watched El and Max run hand-in-hand straight into the Gap. 

Mike had stopped walking as soon as saw her, causing Lucas and Will to stop along side of him, both scanning their surroundings for her.

Lucas spun all the way around, but there was no El in sight. "Mike, I don't see her? You sure you're not just seeing her in your head or something, man."

Mike abruptly grabbed onto each of their arms, practically dragging them over near the giant window at the front of the store.

"See, right there!" Mike pointed out, spotting them near some racks in the back. El was looking over everything around her, while Max was watching with an entertained grin on her face.

"Max is here too?" Lucas questioned cheerfully, happy to see her, but also completely unaware that his girlfriend had plans to go to the mall today, specifically with El.

"Since when do those two hang out?" Will asked, the question surely on all of their minds.

"They don't." Mike stated, dazedly shaking his head. "This is too weird."

Lucas's eyes never left Max, who he thought looked exceptionally cute today. "What are they doing here??"

"I have no idea." Mike replied, leaning to the side so he could see El better. She was moving around the store like a mad woman, which he knew was no doubt due the fact that she had never been shopping before.

Lucas shifted around as well, trying to get a better view from where he stood, but the random mannequins placed throughout the store were blocking his view. "Can you see what they're doing now?"

"It looks like they're just looking at clothes." Mike gathered from what he saw. A normal thing for two girls to be doing, but considering it was these two girls in particular, it was anything but normal.

"So they're shopping? Fascinating, it's almost like we're in a mall." Will sarcastically remarked, already annoyed with his friends and their girlfriend related issues. "Can we move on now guys?"

"No!" The other two shouted in unison, not wanting to do anything else while their girlfriends were here, _together_, shopping?? It was the last thing they would have expected to see today.   
  


From his spot in front of the window, Mike watched El grab a handful of items, then disappear off into a fitting room.

A few minutes later, she emerged wearing a blue shirt, tucked into a pair of bright yellow pants, which were being held up by some red suspenders.

An inevitable grin graced his face at the sight, thinking she looked even cuter in those clothes than her usual ones. 

El excitedly took in her appearance in the mirror, completely unaware of the boy gushing over her at that very moment.

"Look at her with that little hat on." Mike spoke fondly, mostly to himself. El then decided to pull her suspenders, letting them snap back against her chest. It made her laugh, so of course, it made him laugh. "God, she's so cute."

Lucas and Will snickered at this new side of Mike, a side they'd gotten to see plenty of times since the moment El had come back, but it still never failed to amuse them. Like always though, their laughter had no effect on him whatsoever.

After admiring herself once more in the eye-catching attire, El went back into the dressing room, soon coming back out in a white, splatter paint patterned outfit. She tried on various different colored belts, eventually spinning around a few times until she lost her balance. Like before, it made her laugh, so Mike laughed right along with her.

"Oh my god." Mike sighed happily, dragging it out almost in a theatrical-like way.

His friends looked over once more, to find him wearing what could only be described as heart eyes. Major heart eyes. No surprise there, though.

"Dude, you've got it bad." Lucas informed him, lightly patting him on the back.

"Yeah, no shit." Mike shot back, knowing that he indeed had it bad. Looking at El, enjoying herself in all those new outfits, he knew he didn't mind it, not one bit.

"Okay, Mike, we've been over here spying on them for the last ten minutes. This is getting weird." Will told him, with a nudge to his side. "Besides, aren't you here to get her a gift, not spy on her?"

Mike groaned, rather loudly. He had forgotten all about the damn gift he was supposed to be looking for.

"Yeah, you're right." He agreed, taking one last look at El through the window. "Let's go before they see us!" 

Because really, if El saw him here that would only make things worse for him, since he was supposed to be at home, alone with his feelings. It was best if they took off now anyways. 

So, the three of them went from store to store, searching for that perfect gift. It's just too bad that they had no luck at all. New clothes were off the table, given the fact that she was looking at those herself. All the perfume they had tried out was a definite no, all of them smelling like feet. Nothing from the jewelry store caught his eye, with the exception of a small golden teddy bear, but that was entirely too expensive.

After almost an hour of searching, they had found absolutely nothing. Mike couldn't believe that out of this entire mall, he hadn't purchased a thing. Then again, how could any of the items throughout this mall be perfect enough for El. She deserved better than a cheap thing he could actually afford from some random shop.

Realizing that he wouldn't have enough money for something he could give her without feeling like a complete wastoid, he decided to just give up.

The three of them took off walking again, only this time they were a little less enthused. Mike had fallen into a terribly somber mood, feeling like he had completely failed.   
  


Once they'd made their way back down to the bottom floor, they spotted the girls over near Burger King, chatting amongst themselves, until Max walked off toward the bathrooms. That left El all alone, giving Mike the perfect chance to talk to her.

He knew it wouldn't help his situation, her finding him at the mall, when he said he needed to be alone at home. And now that he had no gift to give her, it would be even worse.

One look at her though, and he simply couldn't resist. He had to talk to her.

***

El stood, leaning her side against the nearest wall, waiting for Max to return. She lazily picked at her nails, feeling kinda bored just standing there. She also felt weird being all alone with a crowd of people around her, but it also felt nice. She felt free, in a way.

"Excuse me miss."

El immediately stiffened, upon hearing the sound of what she knew was Mike's voice from beside her. She didn't expect him to be here, of all places, or to even see him today.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but I just wanted to let you know that you're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen."

She reluctantly turned to face him, attempting to put on her toughest act, but it was no use. His words simply hit her in just the right places. Her faulty glare instantly switched to a foolish smile. 

"Seriously, I'm sure all the girls here are insanely jealous that you get to look like this." He went on, emphasizing his words as he gestured to her. She was wearing an outfit he hadn't gotten to see before he ran off from the store earlier and man, was he upset that he had missed it.

He thought the colorful patterned outfit suited her perfectly and he happened to really love the way she was wearing her hair. It was different, but most definitely a good different. 

El's smile grew even more so, as she tilted her head to the side a bit, seemingly enjoying the flattery.

"I feel bad for them, I really do."

She was flooded with a feeling she knew all too well and she simply couldn't take any more. She had to do it, she just had to.

So, before Mike could ramble on any more about her, she threw her hands up to his neck, grasping onto the collar of his striped yellow shirt and pulled his mouth down to hers, smashing her lips against his.

She didn't care if there were tons of other people around, because in that moment, they didn't even exist. Like every time she kisses Mike, the rest of the world falls away, leaving the two of them to be the only ones in existence.

The gesture took Mike by surprise, but within a few seconds he was kissing her back, as eagerly as he had the night before.

"El?" She soon heard Max speak, rather harshly.

El savored a few more seconds of Mike, before pulling away, wearing a satisfied grin. "Yeah?"

"What are you doing!" Max asked, wide eyed and a bit frustrated. "You're supposed to be mad at him!"

"I am." El shrugged, the smile that was still on her face contradicting her words. 

"You are?" Mike chimed in, sounding utterly confused, since what had just happened, completely initiated by her, showed absolutely no signs of anger. 

Max shook her head disapprovingly, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You can't kiss him if you're mad, El. That's not how it works."

El sighed deeply, feeling somewhat annoyed with Max giving her all these new rules to go by, rules that she didn't particularly like. No calling Mike? Pretending like Mike doesn't exist? And now, she can't even kiss Mike? Needless to say, El wasn't enjoying any of it.

"Okay, then I don't care how it works. I wanted to kiss Mike, so I did."

Mike looks rather smugly at Max, who rolled her icy blue eyes in response. "Fine, whatever you want El." 

"I want to talk to Mike, so we'll be back." She told Max, before grabbing Mike's hand, pulling him along with her. Lucas and Will joined Max, the three of them knowing that Mike and El probably wouldn't be coming back.  
  


"So, does someone as pretty as you happen to have a boyfriend?" Mike hesitantly asked, still going along with his act before. He was nervous, especially since she said she was mad at him and this was his only way of not babbling like a fool.

El led Mike to a open area near the center of the mall, moving to stand right in front of him.

"I might have one." She shrugged, deciding to play along with his little game.

"Hm, well he must be one lucky guy. I'm sure he's great if he managed to find someone like you." 

"Yeah, he was, until he lied to me."

Mike immediately tensed up, the incredibly hurt look on her face making him want to crawl in a hole and die.

"I'm sure he had a good reason, a good, very explainable reason." He rushed to assure her, his voice growing shakier by the second.

"Maybe." She replied flatly, crossing her arms across her chest.

"He did, I know it. He did because there's no way he'd ever lie to someone as amazing as you. He would never want to hurt your feelings, ever, because that would only hurt him too."

El's emotionless face didn't make a move, causing Mike to release a heavy breath, finally giving up the act. He needed to explain himself properly.

"El, I'm so sorry. I didn't want to lie to you, I'd never want to do that. It's just, Hopper... He made me lie. He told me that if I didn't stop seeing you so much, he'd stop me from seeing you permanently! Permanently, as in, for good! I couldn't let that happen! I should've just told you, I know, but I was scared. Actually, I was terrified. All I could think about was Hopper with those murderous eyes and, well, I couldn't do it. I'm so so sorry."

El's harsh staring eased up, after hearing his explanation. She didn't say anything yet though, just listened as he went on.

"And I didn't come here to shop and have fun without you, well I did come to shop, but I only came here to get a gift for you! I thought if I got the right thing, you'd forgive me... We couldn't find anything that suited you and I only have like $3.50, so it's hard."

"It's okay, I understand." El told him sincerely, after deciding that she did truly understand. She could forgive him for this. It's not like he _wanted_ to lie her.

"You do?"

"Yeah, I do. I know how Hopper feels about us and all the time we spend together, so I believe you. He can get a little crazy, too, so it makes sense." She shrugged it off, as if it weren't really a big deal. "I'm not mad at you anymore."

"Oh, thank God!"

"Just don't lie to me again, okay?" She quickly told him, not wanting to ever have to doubt him again. She really didn't like the way it made her feel. "Even if it's because Hopper makes you, you can tell me. I won't let him hurt you."

"That's good to know." He sighed with relief, meaning every bit of it, because Hopper truly did scare him a bit.

"And it's sweet that you wanted to buy me a gift, Mike." She beamed, before leaning up to kiss his cheek.

El pulled away to find Mike grinning shyly, which led her to grab his hand with her own. "Okay, come on, let's go do stuff! I wanna show you this cool store I went in earlier!"

"What about the others?" Mike asked, even though he truthfully didn't care.

El glanced back at where they had left their friends, only to find them gone_. _She turned back to Mike with a look he knew all too well on her face. "Wanna just ditch em?"

Mike gave her the same look right back that he always did when she suggested they do such a thing, a look filled with shock, but also very much excitement. 

"Hm, that depends. Are we ditching them to make out like we usually do or..." He teased, knowing that he'd go with her even if she said no. He would gladly spend his time with her, no matter what it is they'd be doing.

El bit her lip, contemplating whether or not they'd stick to their typical activities for when they'd sneak off from their friends. Since she had no reason to be mad at him anymore, she figured it was only right that they stick to it. Besides, she really wanted to make out with him again. It had become one of her favorite things to do, after all.

"If you do what I want, then yes. We can make out."

"Then where to first?" Mike eagerly asked, his enthusiasm driven by the thought of getting to kiss her again, but also because he truly did want to spend time with her, especially after seeing how happy trying on new clothes had made her.

El happily tugged him along with her, the two of them falling right in with the sea of people circling the mall.

Glowing smiles were on both of their faces, but for seemingly different reasons. Mike's was due to the fact that El wasn't mad at him anymore and that he was getting to spend the rest of day with her.

El was glad that Mike explained everything and that they would get to be together at the mall, but the smile she currently wore was due to the fact that Mike didn't have the slightest clue as to what she was about to put him through, starting with a trip back to that photo shop she went to with Max.


End file.
